Nationwide, ag-gag laws have evolved, says Will Potter, who documented government surveillance and prosecution of environmentalists in his book Green Is the New Red.

“Originally these laws were explicitly targeting animal welfare groups and explicitly prohibiting photography,” he told VICE News. “That didn’t go [over] very well with the public.”

But legislatures have continued to discuss bills on whistleblower activity, said Potter, and have tried to include requirements that job applicants disclose if they have worked for animal rights groups. Other ag-gag laws proposed to require workers to submit to their employers — or the police — any footage they had taken.

North Carolina’s law doesn’t mention agriculture, specifically, and instead focuses broadly on businesses.

“That’s all bullshit,” Potter said. “This is about undercover video and they’re just trying to package it in a new way to try to sneak it through.”

Well, it’s not exactly my most eloquent defense of civil liberties! (Sorry, Mom). But sometimes you just have to cut the euphemisms and call a lie a lie.

North Carolina’s ag-gag law is not about intellectual property. It’s not about financial secrets. It’s about silencing whistleblowers who expose practices that are bad for business.